To play or not to play

The Celtics have an interesting dilemma tonight when they play the Sixers. They are locked into the No. 2 seed thanks to the Magic’s late-season tumble and have essentially nothing to play for. Doc Rivers has already ruled out Kevin Garnett, although he may want to get Leon Powe some run.

But what about the rest of the team? The Sixers are still fighting for either the sixth or the seventh playoff spot with Chicago who has a half-game lead on Philly. Rivers told reporters that he’s still trying to figure out how to play it.

‘Philly’s fighting with other teams, and it will be tough to sit guys for that fact,’ Rivers was quoted as saying in the Herald. ‘That’s my first thought, though I also have to take care of my team first. But that was my first thought when I thought about the Philly game.’

The Bulls finish their regular season tomorrow with a home game against Toronto, while the Sixers finish up in Cleveland, so a Celtics win tonight could effectively set up a Boston-Philly first round matchup.

The Celtics are 3-0 against Philly heading into tonight’s game and went 2-1 against the Bulls, dropping a St. Patrick’s Day game in Chicago.